A New Beginning
by Claddagh girl
Summary: Twenty year into the future Sunnydale is a very different place. Research boy fianlly gets his own gig. (I hate writing summaries! I can never do them justice, so please read anyway :oP )


A New Beginning Xander - future fic I usually like to write Angel fic but I think Xander has had a rough deal over the last couple of seasons so I wanted to make him a hero for once. I have a vague idea of where this is going but it might take me a while to get there. :o) Please review! It inspires me and spurs me on, plus I want to know if it is any good.  
  
The thing about Sunnydale was that to the untrained eye it had appeared to be just like all the other picture perfect towns on the coast of California.  
  
People fell in love, got married and had babies. Then their babies grew up and had babies of their own. They had normal jobs and were unhappy with them, just like the rest of the world. They lived out their lives from beginning to end and somewhere in between the lucky ones found their 'happy ever after'.  
  
And just like everybody else they ignored the demons and the other various forms of evil that lived in the shadows of their town.  
  
In fact, most of Sunnydale's population was more ready, willing and able to believe in the possible existence of aliens than admit to what was actually living within their midst.  
  
It was almost like the entire town was one giant masquerade ball, everyone and everything wearing a disguise to hide the grotesque reality of what was hidden beneath.  
  
As if demons and monsters and things that go bump in the night weren't strange enough, the weird factor came from the truth that nobody seemed to care.  
  
This was Sunnydale's perception of normal.  
  
To Xander it seemed like a cherished childhood dream. It was hard to believe that a place filled with so much colour and enthusiasm for life could have existed just twenty years ago and right here on his doorstep. Had that world ever really existed or was it just a fantasy he created to get him through the day? Were they his last slither of hope that maybe some day things would be different?  
  
Gone were the joys of Christmas parties and children playing in parks. The smiling faces of star-crossed lovers taking a midnight stroll without a care in the world were merely ghosts roaming through his memory.  
  
Tonight the streets were completely empty. Save for a few horned beasts with strangely shaped green and black bodies, keeping warm around a small fire nestled in an old oil drum. It seemed that not even demons were impervious to the chill that blew in from the Pacific at night.  
  
Unlike the peaceful time that seemed so far away, the people in this day and age were well aware that the things that went bump in the night were something to be feared and not just harmless children's stories. The manger of the public library had even gone as far as to relocate all the fairy tales and books of legend to the reference section, just In case anyone developed a death wish and wanted assistance in the fight against evil. Nobody ever did. Most tended to stay at home in the evenings, finding their thrills on the Internet.  
  
Tucked away in the farthest corner of Main Street, a dim light flickered from inside the grisly looking bookstore.  
  
The 'All Seeing Eye' had once belonged to an old friend of Xander's called Rupert Giles, back in the days when Giles was merely a Watcher. He'd since moved back to England and gone further up the chain of Council command, leaving the store in Xander's care. It had been a highly successful magic shop in it's day but Giles and their close friend Willow had been the ones who held all the power of witchcraft, so when Giles went away Xander had decided to turn it into a bookstore, specializing in demon lore and the dark history of the world that most people had been unaware of.  
  
Research boy had finally got his own gig.  
  
The store had closed hours ago with the setting of the sun and a heavy silence hung in the air, pressing down on Xander's shoulders. He didn't like the quiet, when the hustle and bustle of the day died down all that was left were screams of agony as the latest victims met a grisly end and it only served to remind him of just how vulnerable the world had become. Not even the Slayer, whoever she was this week, could protect anyone anymore. If you wanted to live you had to learn to fight, those who couldn't fight learned to hide.  
  
He leaned forward in his beat up leather chair and turned up the volume of the television on the counter in front of him. The big silver ball was about to drop in New York, bringing an end to the fake New Year celebrations pre-recorded three months ago by the TV companies.  
  
He remembered watching the ceremony as a boy and being excited at the prospects that lay before him in the year to come. Where had that excitement gone? Did he even care anymore? He wasn't surprised that the answer was no.  
  
The picture started to break up and he was just about to slap the side of the TV as a clatter of falling trashcans rang out in the alley behind the store. For a second he toyed with the idea of ignoring whatever was out there but Xander wasn't the kind to sit idly by while some vampire or demon got a free feed. He reached under his chair and pulled out a crossbow, already loaded, then slowly headed towards the back door.  
  
Out in the ally a vampire pinned a young girl up against the brick wall. There was nothing remarkable about him, after a while they all started to look the same. Ugly. Evil. And hungry.  
  
But he was far stronger than the girl and she wriggled and whimpered quietly in his grasp. She didn't seem to have the energy to scream and it wouldn't have made any difference if she had, no one would come to the rescue.  
  
No matter how easy it was to feed these days, the vampires never lost the excitement that came with the anticipation of a kill. The young female writhing in the demon's arms was oblivious to the fact that the more she struggled the more delighted the he became. He stroked her dark hair away from her face and looked deeply into her eyes, seeing the fear that would make her blood so much sweeter.  
  
She started to cry. He loved that.  
  
He felt his face change into its demonic state and rolled back his lips, revealing two gleaming white fangs. As he prepared to bite the girl's slender neck he was completely swept up by the pleasure and for a moment time stood still. He never heard Xander creep up behind him and by the time the twang of the crossbow fell upon his ears he was already hit, the bolt piercing his dead heart.  
  
"Happy new year." Xander whispered in to what was left of the vamp's ear as he exploded in to a furious cloud of dust.  
  
The young girl inhaled some of the vampire's remains and started to cough violently. Eventually she vomited all over the ground merely inches from Xander's scuffed shoes. He reached out to help steady the girl but she crumpled in his arms like a rag doll. After a minute she regained her composure and managed to stand although she still clung tightly to Xander, unsure that the momentary control might be lost. Xander reached inside his jacket pocket and pulled out a tissue offering it to her gently. She took it and wiped the vomit from her chin.  
  
"Thanks." She said handing it back to him.  
  
"It's okay, you keep it." He couldn't help wrinkling his nose, it smelled foul and couldn't help but wonder what on earth she could have possibly eaten that could make her puke smell so disgusting. The girl let out a nervous giggle and Xander guessed that maybe she could read minds. She dropped the tissue on the ground.  
  
"I should thank you. There aren't too many people that would be willing to take a risk like that anymore."  
  
"It's okay, it was nothing really."  
  
"No. You saved my life."  
  
They both smiled knowing that she was right.  
  
"Why don't you come inside? Get cleaned up a little." Xander offered. She nodded her head and they started back to the relative safety of the bookstore.  
  
"My name's Harris by the way. Xander Harris. What about you? You got a name?"  
  
  
  
tbc. 


End file.
